Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Happy 40th Anniversary Svengoolie Rich Koz

In June of 1979, Rich Koz debuted as the Son of Svengoolie on Chicago's WFLD-TV. Forty years and dozens of awards later, Koz is still going strong.

Joining WCIU-TV in 1995, Koz became Svengoolie, dropping the "Son of" with permission from Jerry G. Bishop, the original Svengoolie. Bishop reasoned that Sven "was all grown up now." Koz and Sven have remained on WCIU-TV ever since.

Last year, PL Myers and I had the pleasure of interviewing Rich Koz on the Svengoolie set at the WCIU studios. Just being on the legendary set would have been cool, but sitting down with Rich to discuss his career was a wonderful experience. That interview can be found at HeroTV 2018 Episode 11: Svengoolie Rich Koz.

Despite being in constant demand, Rich was very generous with his time. He is humble, funny and full of life. He talked to us about his start as Svengoolie, his passion for what he does, future goals and more.

Johngy's Beat has gotten me far more experiences than I ever imagined, however this one came from HeroTV. I guess, technically, it also came from Johngy's Beat, since that is part of why I am on HeroTV. Who really cares though. The important thing is I was there and talking to a Chicago icon.

Go to Svengoolie.com to learn more about Rich and Sven. You can also get updates at Svengoolie on Facebook. There will be a lot of appearances and events to celebrate the 40th year of Koz and Sven.